And here we go... The second movie is centered on a group of people who are locked in a house, and who we learn are inhaling a nerve gas that is slowly killing them. One of the people in the house is the teenage son of Detective Matthews, who receives a personal invitation from Jigsaw and soon meets up with him at his lair. Jigsaw won't tell him where his son is until they sit down and have a conversation. Of course, with Jigsaw it's mostly babbling about how one should appreciate their life and none of it amounts to much while they watch the people in the house try to figure out how to get out of the game.
And as usual in these types of movies, they all start turning on each other. When in a stressful life or death situation people always turn against each other and it becomes about surviving longer than everyone else, whether that's the name of the game or not. This is human nature, or maybe horror movie writers just assume it is. I will discuss this more when we get to Saw V, where another group of strangers are thrown together in one of Jigsaw's games.
For now, though, I will say that I enjoyed the second movie. It has suspense, mystery (how do these people know each other, and why has Jigsaw chosen them), and a sense of urgency since they're all slowly dying from the nerve gas. The acting is decent, and the puzzles are fun and a bit less gory than the ones to follow in the next movies.
As for continuity, this one brings back Amanda from the first movie (Jigsaw's victim who survived) and she is the one who tries to help the others through the maze in the house (or does she?).
I would like to know, however, how one builds an impenetrable fortress in a house that obviously has windows - I kept seeing light coming through and wondering why they didn't try to just break out. But like I always say, it wouldn't be a movie if the characters were smart enough to escape in five minutes. I recommend this one as a fairly enjoyable horror flick, even on its own if you've never seen another movie in the series.
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
Saw
I was recently given the Blu-ray of the complete Saw series, so I decided to watch them all and see if they seem as ridiculous if you watch from beginning to end and try to catch everything that happened.
The short answer is, no. It doesn't seem any less ridiculous that new accomplices are added in each movie and are explained through scenes from previous movies that are re-shot from a different angle to show that said accomplice was involved all along (I'll explain this as we go). But this is my review of the first movie, and we will go from there.
The original Saw movie was more of a thriller and less of a straight horror movie than the movies that came after, when the writers realized that people would show up more for the gore than for a good mystery. Anyway, in this one we see Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes, otherwise known as Sweet Wesley) and Adam (Leigh Whannell, who I learned after many viewings was the writer of the film) locked in a room and chained to pipes. There is a lot of the usual, this is your fault, you put me here, how do we get out of here bickering between the two until everything starts to develop and we see how Jigsaw is working for the first time. And then there's the twist in the last three minutes. But I don't believe in spoilers (ever since The Sixth Sense was ruined for me by a magazine article, I take care not to ruin movies for others) so I won't say much more.
This is a real crime thriller and mystery, an honest film about chasing a serial killer who has a unique signature. But we all know what happens after this one - or at least you will after you read my next reviews. But the point is, if you only watched this Saw movie, you would get a decent thriller with a twist ending and some OK acting (wish I could say the same for the rest of the movies).
In short, whether you like the rest of the Saw movies or not, this one is different from the rest and I do recommend it.
The short answer is, no. It doesn't seem any less ridiculous that new accomplices are added in each movie and are explained through scenes from previous movies that are re-shot from a different angle to show that said accomplice was involved all along (I'll explain this as we go). But this is my review of the first movie, and we will go from there.
The original Saw movie was more of a thriller and less of a straight horror movie than the movies that came after, when the writers realized that people would show up more for the gore than for a good mystery. Anyway, in this one we see Dr. Gordon (Cary Elwes, otherwise known as Sweet Wesley) and Adam (Leigh Whannell, who I learned after many viewings was the writer of the film) locked in a room and chained to pipes. There is a lot of the usual, this is your fault, you put me here, how do we get out of here bickering between the two until everything starts to develop and we see how Jigsaw is working for the first time. And then there's the twist in the last three minutes. But I don't believe in spoilers (ever since The Sixth Sense was ruined for me by a magazine article, I take care not to ruin movies for others) so I won't say much more.
This is a real crime thriller and mystery, an honest film about chasing a serial killer who has a unique signature. But we all know what happens after this one - or at least you will after you read my next reviews. But the point is, if you only watched this Saw movie, you would get a decent thriller with a twist ending and some OK acting (wish I could say the same for the rest of the movies).
In short, whether you like the rest of the Saw movies or not, this one is different from the rest and I do recommend it.
Come Back To Me
Oh, my goodness. That is exactly what I said when this movie ended. I can't say a lot about it without spoiling things, so I will give you the basic story and my opinion and let you discover the rest for yourself.
It starts a little slow, with a woman named Sarah who was recently in a car accident and is now having "night terrors" after which she wakes up gasping for air and has no memory of what she dreamt or what may have happened while she was out. Her husband works nights at a Las Vegas casino, so of course she's always alone when this happens. And then there's the creepy young man who just moved in across the street...
Now, I had my theories as to what was going on, but every one of them was wrong. You probably won't be able to guess, try as you might. Like I said, I don't want to say too much, but this is a well-done mystery and thriller, and is entertaining from beginning to end. I would definitely recommend.
And if, like me, you end up with your mouth hanging open and your head shaking at the end of this, you'll see why I'm recommending it and why I didn't say too much. Just when you think it's over, it hits you with once last twist that I did not see coming.
Now sit back and enjoy!
It starts a little slow, with a woman named Sarah who was recently in a car accident and is now having "night terrors" after which she wakes up gasping for air and has no memory of what she dreamt or what may have happened while she was out. Her husband works nights at a Las Vegas casino, so of course she's always alone when this happens. And then there's the creepy young man who just moved in across the street...
Now, I had my theories as to what was going on, but every one of them was wrong. You probably won't be able to guess, try as you might. Like I said, I don't want to say too much, but this is a well-done mystery and thriller, and is entertaining from beginning to end. I would definitely recommend.
And if, like me, you end up with your mouth hanging open and your head shaking at the end of this, you'll see why I'm recommending it and why I didn't say too much. Just when you think it's over, it hits you with once last twist that I did not see coming.
Now sit back and enjoy!
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